A Visitor Or Two
by TheKingdomofWaffles
Summary: Emily and Julia are on a camping trip when a strange vampire dude walks in and changes them. Emily has a feeling that they need to go to Forks, Washington... what's so important about Forks?
1. Intruder Alert

*Author's Note* Hey, guys! Hope you like it. It's technically my first fic (or at least the first one I've published). Don't forget to review, review, review!(Pretty please?I'll be your best friend forever! ;)) Constructive criticism is a appreciated, but try not to be mean about it. Enjoy!

*****

Emily POV

"Hey Jules, you ready to go camping?" I asked my friend Julia. We were going camping a few miles away from our park.

"Yeah, one sec. I gotta grab the tent!" she replied from her room.

"You need help?" I asked her. I walked into her room without a reply.

"Could you grab the tent? I have everything else," She asked. I picked up the tent and she got her suitcase.

"Dude, what about your sleeping bag?" I asked.

"Whoops!" she blushed. "Could you hold this?" She handed me a pile of stuff with a sketchbook on top. She walked into her closet and picked up her sleeping bag.

"A sketchbook? Really?" I asked and laughed. She laughed too.

"I have a feeling it's going to be a long night," she giggled. I rolled my eyes. "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go!" she exclaimed. We walked out the door with all of her stuff. I picked up mine on the way out.

We walked out the door into the frigid air. It was starting to get a little chilly. I pulled my jacket out of my backpack and put it on. She put hers on, too. Together, we walked out towards my mom's car. She was driving us to our campsite.

"Hi, guys! You ready to go camping?" she asked. She almost seemed more excited than we were!

"Yup, we're ready!" I said. "Let's go!"

"It looks like somebody's excited!" she said to me. To Julia, she said "I haven't seen Emily so excited to go camping since she was three! It's probably because I'm not going." She grinned at Julia and I. I stared out the window and blushed. I started to recognize the familiar area. Julia's family and my family had gone camping every year since we were three. This year, our parents had decided not to go.

"We're here we're here we're here!" I all but yelled.

"Wait, before you go, do you have your phone?" my mom asked. She had asked me that almost twenty times already, no joke!

"Yes, Mom, I have it. And we'll call you if anything goes wrong," I said.

"Okay, you're right. Bye!" she said. "See you on Monday!"

"Bye!" Julia and I yelled back in unison.

"You ready to have some fun?" I asked Julia.

"Bring it, girl!" she replied.

Together, we pitched the tent and collected enough wood to make a decent, long-lasting fire. I pulled out some matches and lit one. I held it under the wood and lit it. The wood burst into bright orange flame. I stood back to admire my work. Julia walked up behind me, her arms piled high with wood.

"Way to go, girl!" she said. I high-fived her enthusiastically. "You ready to make dinner?"

"Sure, what are we having?" I asked. I had completely forgotten what we had brought.

She pulled out a blue box. "Mac-n-Cheese. It seemed easy to make," she admitted shyly.

"Easy is good," I said, contemplating our option. "Easy _tastes _good, too!" We both giggled.

"Could you go grab a pot and fill it with water?" I asked.

"Sure!" she said, walking into the tent. I heard her pouring the water we brought into the pot. She walked out slowly, balancing the handle in her hand. She set it down over the fire and skittered back. "I hate fire," she muttered.

"Now we just have to wait till it boils, then it's macaroni time!" I said, laughing.

"Good, I'm hungry!" she said, also laughing. She walked back into the tent and emerged with her sketchbook and a pencil. She sat down in a folding chair and got to work. I dumped the dry noodles in the bubbling water.I stirred them around blankly as I dumped them in.

When they seemed about done, I poured the noodles into a strainer.I dumped the excess water out into the spot where the grass seemed pretty dry. I poured the noodles into a hole-free bowl this time and poured the cheese in. I stirred it around absentmindedly and it started to turn yellow. I grabbed two forks and tossed one to Julia. She caught it deftly and twisted her hand around. I sat down in the chair next to her and we started to eat. I didn't bother separating it into different bowls. What was the point?

After we were both done, I stood up with the bowl and stretched. I mumbled something about washing dishes and walked over to where we had set the bin of water. I dropped the bowl in the water and sat down on the ground. I swished the water around inside the bowl and coated it in soap. I swished that around, too. I rinsed it off and set it on a towel outside the tent. Julia walked up behind me and we walked into the tent together.

"Wow, it's getting dark really fast," I said. I glanced outside. It almost looked like midnight. "Hey, what time is it?" I asked Julia. She glanced at her watch.

"It's only 8:30. Weird, huh?" she said.

"Ya wanna get our pajamas on? I would say I'm tired, but I'm not. So there..." I said, unsure of what to say.

"Sure, sounds good... I'll get mine," Julia said, turning towards her suitcase. I dug mine out of my backpack. I put them on as fast as I could and got out my sleeping bag. I laid it down next to Julia's and sat down on it. She did the same.

"So, how have things been on the home front?" I asked Julia. She sighed and looked down.

"Well, you know my dad. He's being all, you know, stuff," she replied. I just looked more and more confused.

"First, I really don't know. Second, you have to give him some time. This must be hard for him," I said. Julia had lost her mother earlier this year. It was hitting the two of them really hard.

"Yeah, I know. I just wish this was all over. No, not over, just never had begun," she said, looking at the floor.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up," I muttered, feeling all awkward now.

"It's fine, can we just talk about something else?" she asked, looking sheepish. Which I didn't get at all.

"So, what do you want to-" I cut myself off. "Did you just hear something?" I squeaked. She nodded, looking as pale as a ghost.


	2. Fire Burning

I gulped. "Julia?" I squeaked. She looked up at me with terrified eyes.

We both jumped as we heard a stick snap. We heard a voice mutter something unintelligible. We exchanged horrified glances. Something bumped into our tent. I bit my lip so hard it started bleeding.

The same thing that bumped into our tent before now ripped it open. A pale person with blood red eyes stared at me. I felt a scream building up. The person seemed to know. He was at my side in an instant, holding my arm up. He bit my arm, crushing it in the process. The scream that had built up let itself loose.

"Damn, your blood tastes bad! Is that even possible?" he muttered. He turned towards Julia, blood dripping from his mouth. "Maybe you'll be better," he said. She stared at him with wide eyes.

"Maybe you'll be a little better..." he said. She squeaked. He turned her head to the side, and bit her on her neck instead. It was her turn to shriek now. I could hear the bones in her neck crunch. He pulled back growling. "You're just as bad!" he grumbled. "I swear, I would be better off with animals."

He walked back out of the hole he made in the side of the tent. He took off running as soon as he hit the ground on the other side.

I fell back against my pillow and writhed. What was happening? I knew one thing for sure... our mysterious "visitor" was a vampire. He had intentions to suck our blood, but I guess it had tasted bad...? But there was one thing I still _wasn't _ clear on. How were we alive? Or at least I thought we were... death couldn't be this painful. This was. it felt like I was being set on fire, boiling in hot water, stabbed all over by thousands of knives, no, _millions _ of knives, and a ton of other painful stuff. It was beyond painful. It was... it was... awful, and horrible, and, and, just plain old _bad!_

I don't know how long it lasted. I forgot how long anything lasted. That made no sense whatsoever. I didn't understand anything anymore. I was in far too much pain to be... understanding.

I finally started to wake up after who-knows-how-long. I stood up and looked around.

I was _fascinated._ I was truly seeing for the first time, and it was amazing. Julia started to wake up, too. She looked around. I saw her eyes widen.

"Wow," she murmured. She stood up, too. She looked at me and contemplated. "You look _amazing!_ But your eyes...!"

"You look amazing, too! But your eyes are... bright red," I squeaked.

She cursed silently. "Yours are, too."

I felt myself start to gape. I closed my mouth after exactly 34.12 seconds. Wait a minute, _how do I know that?_

I turned my attention back to Julia. Her long, black hair hung past her shoulders, though it had barely reached her chin before. Her lips looked fuller, and legs looked slightly longer. She really did look amazing.

I looked out the hole in the tent. Daylight streamed through the gaping hole.

"Crap, what's today?" I asked her. She dug around in her backpack for her phone. She glanced at it and her eyes widened.

"Monday," she choked out. _Monday?!_ My mom couldn't see us like this! We were... different! Not to mention the fact that our eyes were bright red.

"What do we do?" I squeaked. She shook her head in disbelief.

"Leave. Now," she said sadly. "No one can see us like this."

"What... _are _we?" I asked.

"Well, looking at the evidence, I am 99% sure that we are now... vampires." I gawked at her. "Our little friend definitely was."

"That makes sense, looking at it from a reasonable standpoint," I said.

"And from a normal standpoint..." she said suggestively.

"Same. But back to our solution, we can't just leave. We had to make it look like we left for a reason," I replied. "I have an idea. We can make it look like the tent was ravaged by a bear and we were killed in the process."

She looked up, deep in thought. "That might work. We would have to take some stuff with us, though."

I tried to figure out what she meant. "Such as...?"

"Seriously, Em? I mean the necessities. You know, clothes and stuff." Oh. Duh.

"Right, I knew that."

She looked at me. "You weren't wearing your contacts when we almost went to sleep whenever it was, were you?"

"No, I was- OH MY GOD I CAN SEE!" I yelled.

"Keep it down, Em!" she hissed. "They were colored, right?"

"Mmhmm, but how does that help us?" I asked. I had a feeling that that question would make me sound stupid again.

"Emily! We can wear them so our eyes won't be red!" she exclaimed. Again, oh. Duh.

"We should save those for later. For now, let's just make the tent look like it was ravaged," I said. That's where we began our work.


	3. Forks, Washington

"Okay, that should do the trick," I said, stepping back to appraise our work. "It looks bear-worthy, that's for sure."

Julia laughed. "Definitely bear-worthy."

I directed my attention otherwise after that. "Is it just me, or is your throat burning, too?" I asked her.

"Now that you mention it, yeah, it is," she murmured. She said it like she had committed a murder.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of. I guess it's part of our nature, if we _are_ vampires," I said to her, trying to be reassuring.

She smiled. "Yeah, you're right," she took a deep breath. "But what should we do? I don't want to be a murderer."

After 12.74 seconds of quick thinking, I had an idea. "I heard the other vampire say something on his way out... it was about _animal blood."_

"Emily, you're a genius!" she said, grinning.

"I know I am," I said jokingly.

"HAHA, very funny," she said, mocking my teasing tone.

"We should probably... get to it. My throat is really starting to bother me," I muttered.

"Yeah, let's go," she said. We picked up our backpacks and turned towards the forest.

Together, we took off into the vast unknown.

******

After about ten minutes, we stopped and turned towards each other.

"Oh my god we're so so so so fast!!" we yelled in unison, then fell backwards laughing.

Suddenly, a surprisingly delicious scent crossed our path. Both our heads pricked up again in unison. We were on our feet in seconds. We advanced slowly towards what I at least thought was our prey.

We found a dirt path curving around a few trees here and there. Funny, I didn't remember a path being there. A couple walked slowly around the curves, holding hands and talking. I let out a feral snarl and jumped in their way. Julia followed my lead.

The woman screamed. I was at her neck in seconds, Julia at the man's. They were dead in seconds.

We held the bodies in our hands, contemplating our deed.

_What have we done?_ Her eyes said. My eyes probably said the same thing. Together, we buried the bodies, wallowing in remorse.

I picked a few nearby flowers an laid them across the "grave". Julia moved towards me. We sobbed tearless sobs together.

"Why aren't we actually crying?" I asked her, confused.

"I have no idea," she said, in between breaths.

We turned around and walked back into the forest. I glanced at Julia. Her eyes blazed redder than before. Mine did too; I knew that much.

I stopped in the middle of the woods and stared blankly. "We need to go to Forks, Washington. We can use my tiny college fun to pay for airfare." I snapped back into reality after that.

"First, you're insane. Second, where on Earth is Forks, Washington?" she asked me, looking at me like I had lost it. I probably had.

"Well, I'm guessing it's in Washington, genius," I replied.

She appeared confused. "You just said we needed to go there. Why are you looking at _me _like _I'm _ insane?"

"Huh? I never said that!" I snapped at her. She appeared hurt. "Sorry Julia, I didn't mean to yell at you like that. I don't know what came over me."

She looked up at me. She might have grown during the transformation, but I was still taller. "It's fine. I probably was just hallucinating," she murmured.

"No, that one was all me. I do remember saying that now, but only vaguely," I said, trying to make her feel better.

"You really what to use your college fund?" she asked. I nodded and closed my eyes. I had a good feeling about this. "Speaking of why do you even _have_ a college fund?"

"My mom likes to be ahead of the game when it comes to saving," I said, laughing quietly. Shoot. My mom. She was going to be an emotional mess. I felt so bad, almost like it was _ my _ fault...

"How are you going to extract the money from your account?" Julia asked.

"I have a bank-card-type-thing at home. We should probably stop by each of our houses before we buy the plane tickets, though. We need more clothes," I said.

"We need a time when we know our parents won't be home," she said. "We don't want to risk killing anyone again." Her voice brimmed with remorse.

"Good point. I think that's part of our very unfortunate nature, also," I muttered. "Those poor humans."

She sighed sadly."Unfortunate, indeed."

We started back towards the city. We ran for miles and miles on end, hoping we wouldn't stumble upon any unfortunate humans. We eventually came to a different park... one only a mile from my house.

"Are you sure your mom isn't home?" Julia said, her voice panicked.

"Positive. And my dad isn't home, either," I replied.

"Okay."

We advanced towards the house. Today was a very rainy day, so very few humans were out. When we did see one, we held our breath to avoid that particular frenzy.

The front door of my house was locked, so I proceeded through a window. On the inside, the house smelled strongly of human. I held my breath and went upstairs to my (old) room, backpack in tow. I fought the urge to breathe as hard as I could. I threw a few random articles of clothing in my backpack and opened the window. I jumped out deftly, my feet hitting the ground with a soft _thud_.

Julia jumped. "Goodness, Em, you scared the living daylights out of me!" she exclaimed. I giggled.

"Let's head over to your house. I want to get on that plane to Seattle as soon as I can," I said. She simply nodded, then started to look confused.

"Seattle? I thought we were going to Forks," she said.

"There are no airports in Forks," I told her. She again nodded.

We started towards her house quickly and quietly. We were there within ten minutes.

She started to climb in through the window, like I had at my house. I heard her slink into her room and stealthily throw stuff in her backpack. She was back in a matter of seconds, much quicker than I had been.

"Well, let's go," she said as she climbed back out the window. We made a break for the nearest ATM and withdrew enough money for the plane tickets. With that, we sprinted towards the airport.


	4. Hello Seattle

We reached the airport well before noon, a feat that I was mystified at. We had left at 10:45 and had gotten there at 11:00. As humans, even with a car, it had taken us thirty minutes to get there, forty-five with traffic.

I turned towards Julia as we advanced towards the parking lot. "You ready?" I asked.

She nodded stiffly. I dug around in my bag for the contacts and handed a pair to her. We both put them in with care.

I looked at Julia. Her eyes were a striking violet. We both started laughing at exactly the same moment.

"Are my eyes purple, too?" I asked between huge gales of laughter. She nodded, unable to reply vocally due to the everlasting string of laughter coming out of her mouth.

We kept walking into the airport. I could almost feel the stares pointed at us as we entered.

We walked up to the clerk at the Delta desk and held our breath. I opened my mouth, taking in as little air as possible. "We need to book a last-minute flight to Seattle."

The clerk looked at us suspiciously. "And where are your parents?"

"Our parents are outside. We're going to visit our ailing aunt and they couldn't take any time off work to join us," I said, shooting her my best manipulative smile. Julia raised her eyebrow at me. I shrugged.

The clerk shrugged nonchalantly and pulled something up on her computer. "You guys are in luck. We have two empty seats on our next flight to Seattle."

I breathed a sigh of relief I almost forgot not to breathe back in.

"Are you guys going to pay or what?" the clerk said. Gosh. Impatient much?

"How much do you need?" I asked, again using my manipulative smile.

"Four hundred seventy-six dollars," she said, calculating the price.

I placed a large stack of twenty dollar bills with a few ones on the counter. Her eyes widened as she counted the money. I stifled a laugh. She handed us the tickets told us when the flight was scheduled to take off. 12:30.

"Thanks!" I called as Julia and I turned around and started walking. I glanced down at the tickets. Gate G2. I knew exactly where that was, I've come to this airport many, many times before.

We went through security quickly and were back on our way in no time.

Soon enough, we came to our gate. It was 12:15. All the walking and security had slowed us down quite a bit. Also, we had to at least _act_ human.

Those extra fifteen minutes seemed to last forever. Every breath I took felt like a fresh stab in the throat. I could see that Julia wasn't breathing at all. I couldn't blame her. Breathing was impossible to deal with.

"Passengers on flight 127 to Seattle are now boarding," a voice called over the intercom.

Julia and I stood up with our backpacks and walked into the corridor leading to the plane. I again looked down at the tickets. We were in coach. I guess that's what you get for booking an extremely late flight across the country.

We found our seats and sat down reluctantly. A man sat down across the aisle from me. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried not to focus on the scent of his blood. Julia was humming under her breath as a distraction.

The intercom buzzed to life after that. We pretended to pay attention as it announced that the safety video would be coming on and we would be taking off soon. We then pretended to pay attention to the annoying safety video.

I could feel the plane start to move under us. I winced as I accidently breathed in. The man across the aisle stared at me like I was insane. As far as he was concerned, I was.

Julia dug around in her bag for her sketchbook. I didn't really understand why she brought it, but she couldn't fathom my love for books. So I guess we were even.

After the first hour or so, I could see that a lapse in her control was beginning to form. We couldn't afford to slip now; then we would be forced to kill all the other innocents who had been nothing but bystanders. We couldn't do it.

"Go to the bathroom," I hissed under my breath at Julia. "Put some new contacts in. Yours are beginning to fade." She nodded and took the contacts I had handed her. I was relieved; it would do a great deal of good for her to get away from the scent, even if it was still there.

I took my own pair of contacts. If hers were fading, mine probably were, too. I popped them in deftly and looked around. I didn't understand how I had dealt with wearing these as a human. I was almost forced to look at all the cracks and indents in the lenses. The also blurred my vision profoundly.

I pulled out my book (which would be the third Harry Potter) and started to read despite my trouble seeing through the contacts.

Julia walked back to where we were sitting. She sat down and sighed.

"What's up?" I asked. Something was bothering her, and it was my job to find out.

She shrugged. I raised my eyebrow. She started to laugh at me. I didn't get it.

"Do you realize how absolutely hilarious you look when you do that?" she asked, laughing her head off.

The intercom then came on. It said something about landing soon, and to fasten our seat belts. Julia and I followed suit.

I could feel the plane slanting down after a minute or two. It normally would have exhilarated me, but I was focusing too hard on not killing anyone to pay that any mind. We -ever so slowly- sloped towards the ground and landed with a soft _thud_. The plane drove on for about two minutes before coming to a complete stop. As soon as we could, Julia and I were up and walking off the plane.

We stepped into the airport and briskly found our way towards the exit. We stepped out into the freezing air and breathed in. Then, we started all but shrieking.

"We did it!" I yelled.

"We lasted through a four-hour flight on a plane full of humans!" she replied. We then started laughing. Why, I wasn't sure of.

"So, I guess we're running to Forks?" I asked. I couldn't get over how weird that sounded.

"That sounds about right," she replied, winking.

We tore off into the sprawling city and found the forest. There, we began our trip to Forks.


	5. Surprise, surprise

We ran and we ran and we ran. We ran until I thought I was going to explode. But I didn't. We just kept on running.

_At this rate, _ I thought, _we'll be in Forks by nightfall. _I looked up at the dark sky. Never mind, it _was_ nightfall.

Finally, we came out of the woods and into what looked like a small town. I wasn't sure if I should be relieved or worried; we were out of the woods, but towns mean people.

I looked around cautiously. Julia did the same. As far as I could see, there were no unfortunate humans. Now _that _was a relief.

Julia and I walked towards the woods on the other side.

"How will we know when we're in Forks?" she asked.

"We won't."

She shrugged as we came to a small river, though it was closer to a stream, being only thirty feet across.

"Finally, I can get all this dirt off me!" Julia exclaimed, getting ready to jump in.

"Whoa, wait a second!" I said. "I have this weird feeling that we should ask the people who live there, first."

"Seriously, Em? Why?"

I shrugged as I walked toward the large white house that was up ahead. Julia looked at me like I was insane, which for the time being, I was.

I walked up to the front door and knocked. A tall-ish woman with billows of caramel-colored hair answered the the door.

"Hi, you must be Esme!" I said. Wait, _how do I know that?!_

She appeared confused. "Yes, and you are...?"

A smaller girl (though I can hardly call her a girl, she appeared to be at least five years older than me) with spiky black hair danced up behind her.

"Hey, Emily and Julia! And yes, you can use the river. Have at it!" said Alice (at least that's what I thought her name was).

I started gaping like a fool. Julia elbowed me in in the ribs and I shut my mouth.

We turned around and started walking towards the river.

Julia looked at me. "How did she know our names?" she whispered.

I shrugged. "Maybe she just had a feeling, like I did."

"So _that's _ how you knew, uh, Esme, was it? Well, you knew her name, and I guess that's why," she said.

I nodded as we jumped into the water, fully clothed. I laughed as we sank to the bottom. I laughed harder as I watched all the dirt covering us rising up into the water.

We climbed out on the left side and laid there for a few seconds. I got up and shook like a dog, splashing Julia with water. She elbowed me in the ribs.

We got up and started walking towards the house. I stopped in my tracks.

Julia spun around to look at me. "What's the holdup?" she asked confusedly.

Suddenly, Alice burst out of the front door. She ran forward and grabbed our hands, dragging us back to the house. Julia looked confounded.

_Just go with it, _I mouthed. She seemed to understand.

"C'mon. I _know _you guys can go faster than that!" Alice said as we walked towards the house.

I broke free of Alice's grasp on my wrist and started to run as fast as I could. I raced up the front porch stairs and touched the door lightly, trying not to break it.

"I win!" I said through bursts of laughter.

Alice muttered something like, "not a race."

"Hey, you asked for it!" I said to her. She rolled her eyes.

She opened the door, leading the way. I walked in and Julia followed reluctantly.

Alice's pace quickened as she gained sight of a guy with honey-blonde hair who I believed to be named Jasper. She guided herself straight to him as fast as she could.

_Sure, abandon us now, _I thought. A laugh came from the back left corner where a girl who appeared no older than seven, a tall brunette, and another guy with bronze hair stood.

Alice stepped forward. "I would tell you all of our names, but you seem to already know."

I nodded and thought, looking up at the ceiling. "Okay, Alice," Of course. "Jasper," the honey-blonde, "Esme," already knew hers, "Carlisle," a tall man with blonde hair, "Edward," the bronze-haired boy, "Bella," the brunette, "Renesmee," who looked strangely like both Edward and Bella, "Rosalie," a tall, statuesque blonde, "...and Emmett." He was a tall brown-haired guy who scared me quite a bit.

They all stared at me in shock. A boy in the opposite corner of Edward and Bella spoke up.

"Looks like we've got another fortune-teller on our hands," he muttered. Funny, I didn't know his name.

Alice rolled her eyes. Julia and I glanced at each other in confusion. I knew everyone else's name, why not his?

The guy named Edward looked up.

"He's a werewolf." _Wait, did he just say werewolf?!?_ "Alice is immune to him, too, if it makes you feel any better," he said. "But everyone else's powers work on him, but no one knows why."

Powers? And how is he answering my thoughts?

"Because I can hear them," he said, on the verge of a smirk. Bella elbowed him and he composed himself.

_He can hear my thoughts?!?!_ He laughed. Esme shot him a well-meant glare, then looked back at me. She appraised our dripping clothes, and spoke up.

"First things first, you two need some dry clothes," she said, getting ready to turn around.

"That's fine. We have our own clothes," Julia said. She looked nervous. She wasn't really a people person, especially as a human.

I nodded and turned around. "Be right back!" I called after running out the door. Julia followed suit. We ran around to the back of the house, picked up our backpacks, and ran back inside. It took all of ten seconds.

When we got back inside, everyone was congregated around a large table in the dining room. Alice motioned for us to come inside. We complied and sat down.

Carlisle stood up. "You two seem very well informed about our kind, are you not?" he asked. I lost my voice for a second, then regained composure.

"More or less. But we still aren't really sure about everything, though. Like why are we so lust-y about blood?" I asked. There were a few chuckles around the table.

"We're not exactly sure about that, but we do know that during your first few years, you should stay away from humans," he said. Whoops. "By the way, how did you manage to get here without making human contact? you seem to have come a very long way."

"How about I start at the beginning?" I said. He motioned for me to take the floor. I pulled Julia up by her arm and began.

"It all started on our annual camping trip. Julia and I were just sitting in our tent, and we heard something making noise outside our tent," I began.

"And then _somebody_ just had to go and bite their lip too hard!" Julia cut in, her tone teasing rather than angry.

"So, some guy burst into the tent and bit my arm," I said, fingering the spot where a crescent-shaped scar now laid. "He said something about my blood tasting bad, so then he moved on to Julia and bit her."

Everyone had a look of both shock and curiosity written all over their face except Renesmee. She anxiously awaited for me to begin my stroy again.

"We burned for days," Julia said, rubbing her own scar on her neck. "Actually, I'm not sure how long it was."

Carlisle nodded, deep in thought. "Days would be accurate. It usually takes about three."

"I don't know exactly how long it was, but when we woke up, we were amazed. We could see a lot clearer, and both our eyes were red. We walked outside and ran into some rather... unfortunate hikers."

They all nodded. Was it a nod of understanding, or of disappointment?

Edward spoke up. "We all slipped up, Emily. Except... never mind that. The bottom line is, everyone makes mistakes."

I nodded and started speaking. "After that, I had this weird feeling that we needed to come to Forks, Washington. Is this it?"

Edward nodded. "This is it. And that appears to be your gift... you just have accurate hunches about things, like our names."

"Gift?" I squeaked. He nodded. "Does Julia have one?"

"I have no idea. We might have to get Eleazar to come look and see," he said.

"Who's Eleazar?" Julia asked.

"One of our old friends. His gift is knowing other people's gifts," Edward replied.

Carlisle turned towards me. "How did you get here?"

"We caught a plane to Seattle and ran the rest of the way. It took a good three or four days." Everyone's jaw dropped. I suddenly felt a wave of paranoia and self-consciousness.

"How did you not--um, you know, slip up?" Jasper asked in awe.

"We held our breath. It seemed to be a lot harder for me than Emily, though," Julia said. I giggled as she shot her elbow at me. I dodged.

Carlisle was the first to snap out of the awed trance. "You held your breath for a four-hour plane ride? The only other I've seen with that kind of self-control was Bella, but we believe that was a result of preparation. You don't seem to have had any type of preparation for this," he said. I shook my head as an answer to his rhetorical question, which had mostly been just a thought.

"Well, either way, Alice has a question for you," he said, motioning for Alice to come forward.

Alice stepped up and took the floor. "While you guys were outside, we decided to do this... how would you like to live with us?"


	6. Answers

My mouth fell open in shock. Were these people (whom we just met, I might add) seriously offering us a chance to _live_ with them?

I glanced out of the corner of my eye at Julia. Her reaction had appeared to have been extremely similar to mine. She had pure shock written all over her face.

Alice laughed. "Don't worry, you don't have to decide right this second. You can just stay for a few days and see what it's like here, so you can make an easier decision."

I gulped and nodded. "Sure, that sounds good."

Julia looked at me like I was insane. "Hey, Emily, can I talk to you for a second?" She grabbed my arm and dragged me out the front door. "Are you insane?! We don't know these people! They could be-- insane!!"

I laughed in spite of myself. "Jeez, Jules, you always have to look at the bad side of things, don't you?" She looked offended. "And I mean that in the most loving way possible..." She raised an eyebrow at that one. "Anyways, I just have a good feeling about this. Can we just stay for a day or two, and see if they're 'normal'?"

She took in a deep breath and looked at me. "Whatever, Emily. And if they _are_ insane, I completely and totally blame you."

"Hey now- let's not go blaming me for everything!" I said in a teasing tone.

She rolled her eyes and turned back around. She advanced towards the house with me in tow.

I could almost feel the ten pairs of eyes pointed at us, awaiting our decision. I tugged on the bottom of my shirt nervously. Julia elbowed me from the front.

I snapped out of my nervous trance and opened my mouth to talk. "Well, can we just stay for a day or two to--umm, make a descision?"

"Of course you can! I knew it! Told ya, Edward!" Alice chirped.

Edward rolled his eyes. "Of course you knew it, Alice. I saw it in your head."

_Wait, what?!_ I thought. Oh, right. Mind-reading. Ai-yi-yi, that was going to be hard to get used to.

"It always is," Edward said smirking. Julia looked puzzled. "Just answering her thoughts," Edward explained to her. I gave her a guilty grin.

Carlisle then spoke up. "You guys can use the guest bedroom if you need it. But what for, God only knows. I assume you know we don't need sleep..."

Oh. So _that's _why I wasn't tired... oh.

"Maybe we should do a little enlightening on the subject of our life... you two seem very new and uninformed about this life. No offense, of course," Carlisle said.

I nodded stiffly. "Yeah, we have absolutely no idea what the heck we got ourselves into," I said, cracking a grin.

"Well, feel free to sit down. This is going to be a long discussion."

I shrugged and sat down on the floor.

He laughed at my bizarre reaction. "Not exactly what I meant, but if you're comfortable... I guess it's up to you."

Everyone sat down after that. They seemed very specific about where they placed themselves... Rosalie was next to Emmett, Jasper next to Alice, Esme next to Carlisle, Edward, Bella, and Renesmee together, and Jacob alone in his corner.

"Hey, not trying to be rude or anything, but is there some couple thing I should know about here?" I asked, not sure if I offended anybody.

That drew a few laughs here and there from the small--well, large, I guess-- crowd.

Edward was the first to speak up. "We'll tell you about that later. Right now, let's just talk about life for our kind, eh?"

Carlisle took it from there. "Yes, we'll have to explain that later. But for now, let's get back on the subject. What do you guys know already?"

Julia was the first to speak. "Well, apparently, we don't need sleep... and we know we drink blood. Well, that's kind of a no-brainer... we are vampires, right?"

Carlisle laughed. "Yes, we are indeed vampires. And I belive that you should know that there is an alterative to hunting humans. We drink animal blood instead, and it has worked for us."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "So we don't have to kill anbody else?"

"Anybody else?" he asked curiously.

"Uuuuum... we kind of... uh, slipped up on our first day," I muttered in embarrasment.

"Wow. You exercised such amazing self-control after that... maybe it was sheer remorse," he mused. If I could be blushing, I would be.

"Well, what's done is done and we can't do anything about it," I said defensively.

Carlisle looked surprised. "No, I wasn't trying to use that against you, I was just fascinated by your control. The only other newborn I've met with that control was Bella, and that was a factor of preparation."

I nodded, trying to take everything in. I guess I looked hilarious, because Julia was laughing her head off at my expression.

"You guys have had a lot to deal with. How about you go get settled into your room, and we can talk again later?" Carlisle said. I nodded again. "Upstairs, first door on the left."

"Thanks," I murmured as Julia and I picked up our backpacks and headed up the stairs. I turned towards that first door on the left, almost afraid of what awaited inside.


	7. Life Story Time?

I opened the door nervously. I started gaping like a fool the second I saw the room.

"Dude, these people are _rich_!!" I half-whispered to Julia. She nodded, her eyes wide.

There was a large bed in the center of the eastern wall. It had a dark gold metal frame with an intricate, flowery design running up the edges. There was a gold comforter atop the bed.

There was a large bookcase with glass panels on the western wall. Next to it was a shiny black desk with a cup full of pens on it. On its other side was a wicker dresser.

The back wall wasn't much of a wall, it was more just a huge glass window. Outside was the beginning of a huge forest. I saw a doe, heavy with fawn, staring up at me a few yards back.

My backpack slid off my shoulder and landed on the ground with a _thud_. I took a few uneasy steps forward, not wanting to scare the doe off.

The doe turned and ran off into the woods. I laughed in spite of myself at that. Of course it would run off! That's its nature; run from all humans. I guess non-humans, too. Especially non-humans.

I turned around to find Julia staring at the huge, fancy bed.

"I'm almost afraid to touch anything, 'cause I would probably break it," she muttered, almost to herself.

"Well, let's put this dresser to use." I picked up my backpack and emptying its contents into the empty dresser. Julia claimed the two drawers on the opposite side of my two.

When we were done, I plopped onto the floor from what would have seemed from exhaustion. I laid down and stared at the ceiling. Even _that_ was fancy; there was a gold border running around its perimeter and a fancy-looking chandelier hung right above the bed.

I found myself getting lost in the intricate decor after a few minutes. Whoever did this definitely had an eye for detail.

Julia heaved a sigh from the bed. I tried to look up at her, but it didn't really work, considering the fact that my head was on the floor. I rolled over onto my stomach and stood up to stretch. Julia looked up at me, a sad look in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" I murmured, walking over to her.

"Nothing. I just don't understand any of this. I mean, it all happened so fast. Bang. We're vampires," she took a deep breath. "And all of the sudden, we're moving in with these people we met, like, five minutes ago."

"It's not permanent. We still have a choice."

"And what would our choice be?"

"You're right, we should get to know them first. But so far, _I _like them."

"Dude, you like everybody!" She said with a grin.

"Your point?" I shot up an eyebrow.

She held up her hand defensively. "Hey, I wasn't accusing you of murder!"

"Yeah, I know," I said, glancing at the carpeted floor. "But just remember, no matter what, we still have each other."

"Whoa there, don't go getting all sappy on me!"

I rolled my eyes at her goofiness... but what can I say? I'm a bigger goof than her!

"We should head back downstairs," she said.

I nodded. "Hey, are you actually starting to _like_ them, heaven forbid?"

She threw an elbow at my ribs as we headed out the door. I dodged it neatly... sort of. If you consider "neatly" to be slamming into the doorframe.

Similar to before, all ten pairs of eyes stared at us as we made our way down the stairs. I sat down on the floor next to the landing, Julia next to me. Given all the eyes staring at me I guessed it was my turn to start.

I cleared my throat nervously. "I have a really kinda stupid question, but where did you guys all come from?" That earned a few chuckles from the crowd.

"What exactly do you mean by that?" Carlisle asked. He seemed genuinely curios.

"Uh, I mean did you guys just find each other, or did you 'create' each other?" I asked.

Carlisle took that into consideration. "I'm going to start at the beginning - and watch out, it's a very long story.

"I was created first by some nomads in London about three hundred years ago. I hid myself during the transformation in order to, well, not be killed. When I realized what I was, I tried to kill myself in a variety of ways. As you can see, none of them worked. I lived with the Volturi for a few years as a newborn."

"Wait, you lived with the Vol-who?" I asked.

"The Volturi. They are the closest thing our kind has to royalty. They take it upon themselves to enforce the rules- and they run a tight ship, so beware," Carlisle elaborated. "So I lived with them for a few years, but I didn't exactly appreciate their particular lifestyle and pretty much everything else. I left after a little while. I decided I wanted to study medicine, so that's what I did. I also discovered an alternative to human blood- animal blood. I got jobs at some hospitals, moving every so often so people wouldn't realize that I wasn't aging- that's actually how I found Edward. I'll let him take the story from here."

Edward nodded. "I was born in 1901 in Chicago. When I was seventeen, the Spanish Influenza had broken out. It took the lives of both my parents later on, and I too caught the illness. Carlisle was working at the hospital I was being treated at- my mother somehow knew about him and asked him to change me in her final hours. She died soon after. Carlisle had no choice but to change me, he had already considered creating a companion for himself. He always could have gone back to the Volturi, but who would want to be with those no-good,"

"Edward," Bella said warningly, laying a hand on his shoulder. That earned a giggle out of me.

Edward appeared ready to begin his story again. "A few years after that, he found Esme. Esme, you can take over now."

"Thank you, Edward," she said. "It all started when I climbed that darn tree!" she grinned.

"That _darn_ tree?" Carlisle said with a teasing tone. "I thought you would be grateful!"

She laughed. "Don't worry, I am. Anyways, I fell out of a tree and broke my leg in 1911 when I was sixteen. That town doctor was away, so I had to go to a large hospital just out of town. A very nice doctor- I think his name was Dr. Cullen- treated me, and that was a memory I didn't forget. I came back to the hospital a little while after to see him, only to find out that he had moved to Chicago.

"A few years after, I was basically forced to marry a man who seemed almost perfect- but he was still no Dr. Cullen," she said, glancing at Carlisle. "It turns out he was in on way perfect, abusive would be a better word to describe him." Her face fell slightly. Carlisle did NOT seem very happy about him at all. "After about five years, I found out I was pregnant with his child. I fled up north to escape the hostile environment that I called home.

"Soon after the child was born, he died of a lung infection. I was so depressed I attempted to commit suicide by jumping off a cliff. After I was found, I was presumed dead and brought to the morgue. Carlisle sensed the blood and a heart beating, so he came to investigate. He recognized me from when I broke my leg, so he changed me."

"And I haven't regretted the decision since," Carlisle said, taking her hands. Rosalie scowled at the ground.

"Okay, so I'm guessing you two are... married?" I asked.

"You guessed correctly," Esme said. "Sorry, Rose, your turn."

Rosalie immediately seemed happier. She also seemed to be one for attention.

"I'm just going to cut to the chase," she murmured. "I was to be married to Royce King III, a man of good prospects, according to, well, everyone. One night I saw him and his drunken friends out on the roads. Um, let's just say they did some less than wonderful things." I was pretty sure what less than wonderful things she was talking about. Julia and I exchanged a glance that just said, "Yikes."

"I was assumed dead, and they left me bleeding in the streets. Carlisle smelled the blood, and again came to investigate. He brought me back to his house and changed me there." She smirked. "Edward was livid. It was pretty funny to watch him rant." Edward scowled at her. She just smirked more.

"How about we finish telling all the stories tomorrow?" Carlisle suggested. "I'm sure our guests would appreciate some time to take this all in."

"Yeah, I need to study a little before I can recite your life stories by heart," I said with a mischievous grin. I could tell by the look on his face that that was earning me some serious points with Emmett.

Julia and I stood up as everyone started to trod off to their designated rooms. We headed up the stairs to our own bedroom only to collapse on the bed and lay there for the rest of the night.

A/N: I'm sorry peoples, I just realized I repeated everything from the last chapter!! *rips out hair in clumps* WHOOPS!!


	8. The First REAL Hunt

"I'm exhausted," I muttered. "Is that even possible?"

"Doubt it. if we can't sleep, we probably can't be tired. It's all in your head," Julia said. I hate it when she's smart.

"Well, do you want to go back downstairs? I bet everyone else is already down there," I said.

She shrugged and followed me out the door. I ran down the stairs, and proving my theory correct, everyone was sitting on the various couches and chairs throughout the living room. I took my place from yesterday- on the floor.

"So, who's turn is it now?" I asked.

"Oooh, pick me!!" Emmett said with false enthusiasm.

"Sure, Emmett."

"Okay, here goes. I was born in 1915. In 1935, I was out for a hike, and boom! There was this huge bear, about as tall as me."

I could feel myself gawking at that; that must have been a pretty big bear!

"It wasn't in a very good mood or somethin', cause then it just started attacking me. It had beaten me up pretty good when Rosalie came along."

Rosalie grinned.

"She liked me," he said, his voice full of fake smugness. "She didn't trust herself enough to change me herself, so she brought me to Carlisle so he could do the honors. I wake up from this long nap, and I'm a vampire!"

He had everyone laughing at that point. I could tell he was the family prankster; we would have to watch out for him.

"Yo Alice! Your turn. Unless Jasper wants to go..." Emmett said.

Alice decided she would go first. "I was born in 1901. My name was Mary Alice Brandon, but everyone now just calls me Alice. I had a sister named Cynthia. I don't remember anything about her, because I spent most of my life in an asylum because I had visions of the future."

"That's awful!" I yelped. Everyone looked at me. if I could have been blushing, trust me, I would have been as red as a tomato.

"It's not the best way I could have spent my life, no. But there was nothing I could do, so I suffered in silence. I don't remember anything about the asylum, either. All I know is that it was dark. Very dark." She appeared sad. "After a while, I was changed into a vampire. As Bella will tell you, there was a nomad named James. He had wanted to kill me, but after I was changed, there was nothing he could do. So, he killed my creator instead. After that, I got out of there as fast as I could." She looked at Jasper. "You take it from there."

He nodded. "I was born in 1843 in Texas. When I was 18, I joined the Confederate Army. I was the youngest general they had.

"When I was 20, I met a vampire named Maria. She had two colleagues, Nettie and Lucy. Maria changed me, and I joined her in her quest to have control of Mexico City. The life down there was very different from up here; vampires fought for control over cities so they could feed more often. There was a war tactic invented by a vampire named Benito. Newborn vampires are stronger and faster than regular vampires, and they will fight almost anyone you turn them on. They will also fight amongst themselves, which is a drawback.

"After a while, I began to get tired of the violent lifestyle they had down there. It was Peter who convinced me to run. Maria had me in charge of disposing of the newborns who had passed the one-year mark, when their strength had begun to wane. Peter was supposed to be helping me. When a newborn just past her year mark came up, I urged then to run. Her name was Charlotte, and after a while, they came back for me. They told me that it was a completely different world up north, and there was very little violence. I came with them this time.

"I was in Pennsylvania for a time after I escaped. One day I walked into a diner, and this little freak came up to me and told me she had been waiting for me," he said, grinning and nudging Alice.

"And you, being the good southern gentleman that you are, nodded and said, 'I'm sorry, ma'am'," she laughed.

"And you took my hand, and we set off to find the Cullens," Jasper added.

"And so you did," Esme murmured.

"Scared the hell out of us, too," Emmett grinned. "When Edward and I got back from our hunting trip, he found all his stuff in the garage."

Edward glared at Alice with fake annoyance. "Apparently, my room had the best view."

Everyone laughed. Edward was funny when he was mad, even of it was fake.

Jasper looked at Bella. "Your turn," he said.

She nodded. "Thanks. I was born... not that long ago, actually. I'm the youngest of the group; I was changed only a few months ago.

"It all started when I came to live with my dad in Forks. On my first day of school, I met the mysterious Cullens. I wouldn't really call it a meeting, though, because Edward didn't say a word to me the whole day." She shot him a playful glare. "Anyways, Edward and I started dating after a few months. When he took me to play baseball with his family, a vampire named James decided he wanted to kill me, so they killed him and I wound up in the hospital," she said that as if it was no big deal.

"On my 18th birthday, disaster struck and Edward packed up and left. While he was gone, I kinda jumped off a cliff..." I raised my eyebrow. "Recreationally, of course," she added hastily. "Alice had a vision and thought I was dead. She told Rosalie who told Edward, so he wanted to die to. After I went to Italy and saved him, he came back to Forks. Soon after, Victoria, James' mate, tried to avenge him by killing me. She put together an army of newborns to kill me and anyone who tried to stop them. The Cullens defeated them and we were trouble-free... at least for a month or two," she decided to end her story there, at least for now.

"Hate to be rude," I said. "but I think we need to hunt."

"Oh! Of course," Carlisle said. "You must be dying of thirst. I completely forgot."

"Don't blame yourself. But I am kinda dying of thirst..." I trailed off.

"Who wants to go?" Carlisle asked.

Almost everyone in the room raised their hand. The only one who didn't was Jacob.

"Okay then. I guess everybody's going!" he said. Everyone filed out the door.

When we were outside, everyone kinda went their own way. The only ones who stayed with us were Carlisle, Esme, Edward, and Bella.

We ran into the forest after jumping over the river. When we hit the ground on the other side, I smelled something, not exactly mouthwatering, but edible. I guessed it was some sort of animal... what else would it be?

"Smell anything?" Carlisle asked. I nodded, trying to pinpoint the location the scent was coming from. It seemed like it was coming from the right...

"Very good," Edward said. "That's exactly where they are."

"Where what are?" I inquired.

"A pack of mountain lions," Bella replied. "You guys got lucky, I had to hunt elk my first time."

"What's the difference?" Julia asked.

"Carnivorous creatures taste and smell closer to humans than omnivorous ones," Carlisle said.

I ran off towards where I smelled the mountain lions. Sure enough, on one of the branches of a pretty high tree, there was a pack of them. I climbed up the tree and jumped onto the branch they were situated on. I growled at them and stepped closer. They just snarled right back.

As I got closer, they seemed to sense the danger I was emitting. One reared up on its hind legs and tried to scratch me. If I was human, I would be pouring blood, but its sharp claws didn't affect me at all. I reached out and grabbed its big head, snapping its neck in the process.

It gave up its fight almost immediately. It swatted the air one last time, then became limp in my arms. I brought my mouth to its neck and bit. Its warm blood slid down my throat, taking the intense burn down to a dull pain.

The other lions started to jump out of the tree, sensing the threat I posed. Everyone jumped into action and caught themselves a lion. I jumped down and watched them.

When they were done, we moved on to a different section of the forest where a herd of elk was grazing. Much like before, I grabbed one, snapped its neck, and drank.

Dang, Bella was right; elk tasted _bad_.


	9. THE GAME

AN: This is the result of a 12-hour total road trip. Also, this is my longest chapter yet! 2200 words! Yay!

We walked back towards the house when we were all done hunting. I looked up at the sky- we had made it back just in time. It looked like rain.

As we walked in, Jasper came up to us. "Hey, Alice says there's gonna be thunder and she wants to play ball," he said, mostly to Carlisle.

Carlisle nodded. "That sounds good. Will it rain in the clearing?"

"No, it's supposed to be clear over there."

"Okay. Well, get ready!" Carlisle said. Then he turned to us. "Sometimes when a thunderstorm comes, we play baseball in a clearing just outside of town. Do you guys want to play?"

In my human years, I had played softball in a small league, so this shouldn't be too hard.

"I'll play!" I exclaimed, exited that I might actually be good at something here.

Julia seemed indifferent; she had never really been the sporty type... she's always been more of a cheerleader or a gymnast.

"Okay then. You can use one of our bats, and you won't need a glove. We can probably find some extra cleats for you to use... though it might be rather hard, no one grows out of their shoes around here," he said with a grin.

"Actually, I think my cleats are still in my backpack from my last softball game," I said. "So I'm good. Julia might need some, though."

She looked skeptical. "Do I have to play?" She asked."I'm not really the sporty type."

"No, of course not. You can umpire, if you want," he said. "Esme can play."

We heard a low "drat!" come from behind us. We turned around to find an embarrassed-looking Esme behind us. I fought off a laugh and turned back around.

"You guys should go get ready. The storm starts in about twenty minutes, and it won't last too long. We want as much game time as possible," Jasper said.

"Kay. Be back in five," I replied. I ran up the stairs and into our room. I grabbed some sweatpants and a t-shirt out of my drawer. I changed into them as quickly as I could and dug around in my backpack for my cleats. When I looked at Julia, she was still rummaging through her drawer.

I shook my head and laughed as I put my cleats on. She shot me a look of pure confusion.

"You're still looking for something to wear?" I laughed.

"As you probably noticed, I'm not really the sweatpants-y type," she scowled. That just made me laugh even harder. She was hysterical when she was mad.

"Here, just use these," I said, throwing her a pair of sweatpants and an extra t-shirt. She caught them and stuck her tongue out at me. I turned around and walked out of the room so she could change.

Everyone was sitting in the living room. They changed _fast._

"You ready to go?" Emmett asked.

"I am, but Julia's still changing," I replied. Julia then came bounding down the stairs, right on cue.

"Let's go!" Renesmee called, running towards the garage.

"It's her first time, too," Emmett explained. "She's just as excited as you are."

I laughed. "I can tell."

"Hey, you guys can ride with us," Emmett said to us. "Rosalie, Bella, Edward, and Nessie are all coming in our car. Esme, Carlisle, Jasper, and Alice are all in the other car." He cracked a grin. "Your choice. But just warning you, you can't be afraid to double-buckle in our car."

"Sounds good," was my genius reply.

We all walked out to the garage and crammed ourselves into Emmett's Jeep. Nice car, but it's pretty dang hard to get seven vampires seated comfortably in it.

The car ride there was actually a lot of fun. Tik Tok came on the radio, and everyone started singing along. Except Edward. He didn't seem to happy about everyone (especially Emmett) singing at the top of their lungs.

It was starting to get dark when we got there, but the storm over town raged on. I was fascinated that it wasn't pouring on us.

The other car had gotten here first, so they already had all the bases set up by the time we got there. Alice was taking all the bats out of a bag, and everyone else was marking where the makeshift dugouts were going to be.

I walked over to where everyone that wasn't setting up was congregated. Alice walked over to join us, followed by Carlisle, Esme, and Jasper.

"Julia is going to be the umpire, so we have even teams of five people each. The team captains will be..." he paused to pull two names out of a bag. "Rosalie and Carlisle!" He looked shocked. "Wait a second, that's me!"

"Yeah, that _is_ you," Emmett said. "And they call you the smart one!" He scoffed, but his voice was dripping humor. In other words, _he was kidding_.

Carlisle shook Emmett's mocking off. "Rosalie, you can pick first."

Rosalie looked smug at that. "Easy. Emmett."

"Edward."

"Jasper."

"Emily." My mouth fell open. I played softball, sure, but I wasn't _that_ good at it!

Rosalie pursed her lips. "...Alice," she said, almost unsure of her choice.

"Nessie." Bella looked pissed at that. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Bella."

"Esme." Esme looked a little dissapointed. "I saved the best for last," Carlisle assured her, but she wasn't buying it.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever," she waved it off.

"My team will be in the field first," Rosalie said. "You guys can bat."

Carlisle nodded. "Okay, here's the lineup; Nessie, you'll bat first, Edward second, Esme third, Emily fourth, and I'll go fifth." Wait, what? Only the _good_ batters bat cleanup. Since when am I good? And what's with all the trust? Don't they want to win? I just don't get it!

I shrugged and grabbed an extra bat. I read the name it had written on it. Cyclone. Huh. Wait a second... the bat I used when I played softball was called The Cyclone. And it was written in the same lettering... whoa, this is the baseball version of my bat! That's good, I always hit really hard with the Cyclone.

I started to examine the bat. It had a different frame... the handle was longer and the barrel shorter. I guess I was just going to have to deal.

Nessie stepped up to home to bat. Alice threw the ball up in the air and caught it from the pitcher's mound. She threw the ball and Nessie whacked it towards third base. Jasper caught the grounder and threw it to Rosalie at first. Nessie slid in to the base right as Rosalie stepped onto it.

"Safe!" Julia called from behind home. Rosalie glared at her. Nessie looked ecstatic.

Edward stepped up to home swinging the bat around. Alice's eyes narrowed at him. He grinned. There was no way she could get in a complicated pitch without him knowing first.

She threw the ball to him. He smacked it towards Emmett (who was playing shortstop and second) and took off towards first base. Emmett charged after the ball as Edward and Nessie circled the bases. Nessie cartwheeled into home plate when she got there. Edward ran right past it.

off. Emmett caught the ball in midair.

"Safe!" Julia again called. I heard Rosalie snarl from first. Competitive much?

Esme stepped up to bat. Alice pitched, but the ball went a little over Esme's head.

"Ball!" Julia called, throwing it back to Alice. Alice through the ball again, this time a strike. Esme hit the ball towards secont going to have to deal. Oh well.

"Out!" Julia said. Esme ran back towards the "dugout". Ah, shoot. My turn.

I swung the bat around as I walked to home. Alice's eyes again narrowed. I bit my lip nervously.

She threw the ball to me. I watched it slam into my bat. It flew through the sir as I ran towards first base. It went into the forest behind shortstop and Emmett charged after it. I ran to second base and then third. Was I really going to make it home?

"Safe!" Julia said as I came home. She laughed as I walked past her. "Need someone to slap that grin off your face?"

I mock screamed and ran past her. I accidentally slammed into Carlisle, who was getting ready to bat. He caught me when I almost fell on the ground. If I could've been blushing, I definitely would've been.

"Whoops," I muttered as I walked to the dugout.

"It's okay," he said. "And nice play out there."

He stepped up to home and Alice pitched. He smacked the ball towards Emmett at shortstop. Emmett caught it and threw it to first, but Carlisle was already at second. They managed to catch him at third, though.

"Out!" Julia called. Carlisle walked back back to our dugout, picking up his bat on the way. Nessie stepped up to bat yet again... we still had one out.

Alice pitched a screwball to Nessie, who let it go past.

"Strike!" Julia called. Nessie bit her lip.

Alice hesitated before pitching. She pitched, and Nessie hit the ball to second, where Emmett had moved to. He caught the ball in the air, unfortunately for us.

"Out!" Julia said. Nessie jogged back to us at a pace that was less than vampire, more than human.

"Does anyone have any requests on what position they want to play?" Carlisle asked when we were all there.

"I'll play third!" I said, yelling out my softball position out of habit.

"Sure, you can play third. Anyone else?" Carlisle asked.

"I'll play first," Esme sighed.

"I guess I'll play second," Nessie muttered.

"I'll pitch if I have to," Edward said.

"And I'll be in the field," Carlisle finished.

Everyone ran off to their designated bases as Rosalie's team got ready to bat. Rosalie stepped up to bat first.

Edward pitched uneasily. Rosalie swung at it, but missed.

"Strike!" Julia called.

"Eye on the ball, Rosie!" Emmett said. She glared at him. If looks could kill, Emmett would be history.

She turned her attention to Edward, who pitched a fastball. This time she hit it... towards me.

The ball flew through the air as I ran as fast as I could to where it was about to fall. I watched as it did fall... right into my open hand.

Everyone on my team cheered, and everyone on the opposing team scowled at me (especially Rosalie-- she was still sour from the "Rosie" remark from Emmett). I was still in shock. I hadn't been _that_ good at softball as a human. Well, maybe. But I don't want to brag or anything.

Edward smirked from the pitcher's mound. _Reading my mind again, are ya? _ I thought towards him. He turned and nodded at me._ STAY OUT OF MY HEAD! _I thought, but I wasn't really yelling at him.

"Sorry, can't," he replied. He turned back towards Bella, who was batting. She looked sheepish, like she knew she was going to mess up. Edward pitched slowly to her and she hit it to second. Nessie caught the ball on the ground and threw it to Esme. She stepped on the base seconds after Bella did.

"Safe!"

It was Alice's turn to bat. She smirked at Edward. She was probably the best at picking the balls out of the strikes, so Edward couldn't count on luck with her.

He pitched a fastball right over her head. She just stood there looking smug.

He pitched again, but this time it was a strike. The ball flew towards second, where Nessie _almost_ caught it. In stead, it hit her smack dab in the middle of her stomach, knocking her backwards. Edward, Bella, and Alice all ran over to her. Everyone else just stood there looking either shocked or worried.

Nessie held up the ball from where she was lying on the ground. I guess it was out, because it hadn't touched the ground.

"Out!" Julia called. Nessie grinned and hopped up. Edward went back to the pitcher's mound, Bella to first, and Alice to her team's dugout.

"One more out," I whispered to myself as Emmett stepped up to bat with a big grin on his face. I have to admit, I was worried about him. He looked like he would be a _really_ good batter. I took a few steps back (okay, maybe more than a few), just in case.

Edward pitched to him, and _man_ did he whack that ball! It went into the forest behind the field with Carlisle in pursuit. Emmett was already home by the time he emerged. Two runs for them. Whoopee.

It was Jasper's turn now. I was worried about him, too. Edward pitched and he too hit it into the forest. Carlisle was expecting it this time, though, so he caught it in midair.

"Out! Switch sides!" Julia called. I grinned and ran back to our dugout.

The game continued well into the night, ending when Nessie was almost too tired to stand up. Even half-humans needed their sleep.

The final score was 32-25 in their favor. In other words, we lost. Oh well, at least we had fun losing.

AN: I was playing with this document on my computer and the sentences got all scrambled up. I tried to fix it, but that wasn't exactly what I would call a success... so if the sentences sound like jibberish, that's what it's from. Whoops. :/


	10. Target

Emily POV

It was almost dawn when we got back from the baseball game. Nessie slept the whole ride home. Like I said, even half-humans need their sleep.

I was watching Emmett tick Edward off when Alice grabbed me by the arm with Julia in tow.

"Hey!" I protested. "Edward was getting ready to slap Emmett!" There was a booming laugh from the other room, followed by a harsh _slap!_ and a shriek.

"Too bad," Alice replied. "You could get that any day. But now, there are more important matters at hand. You two barely have any clothes, and the ones you do have are from _Target_," she put emphasis on the "Target" part. I grimaced. There was nothing wrong with Target.

"I have plenty of clothes," I muttered. Julia looked at me skeptically.

"Look, kid." Who is she calling kid? "We can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way. Your choice," she almost growled. I couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, so this is funny, is it?" She asked, trying to sound mean, but she was laughing too. I nodded, still laughing. "Okay, you asked for it. Jasper?"

I started to get nervous when Jasper came in the room. "Yes, Alice?" He said.

"Could you hold on to Emily for me? She's coming shopping with me as soon as a good mall in Seattle opens, and I don't want her making a break for it," Alice simply replied.

Jasper gripped my arm firmly. I gulped. He almost smirked at me.

"Hey Rose?" Alice yelled.

"Yes?" Rosalie yelled back from downstairs.

"How would you like to go to the mall with Julia, Emily and me when it opens?" She asked sweetly. I, yet again, grimaced.

"Sure," Rosalie replied, coming up the stairs. "Just let me go get ready."

I shot Alice a baleful glare for holding me hostage. She stuck her tongue out at me.

"Oh, don't be such a Bella," she said. Rosalie laughed from her room.

"Hey now, I heard that!" Bella called from downstairs.

Alice laughed this time. "Yeah, I know." She nodded towards me and Julia. "You two, go take a shower. You are _covered_ in dirt."

"There's only one shower in our room," Julia said. I think that was the first time she'd talked to anyone besides me since we got here.

"Well, you can use our shower," Alice replied. "Our room is right down the hall." She nodded and walked down. She pointed to the door when she got to it.

"That's the one," Jasper said to her. She nodded and went in.

I shot one final glare at Alice before walking into our room. I walked into the bathroom, which, as the rest of the house, was huge. You could probably fit an elephant in the bathtub if you wanted to. The shower was big enough to live in, if you just put a good couch and maybe a flatscreen TV in.

I kicked off my cleats and started stripping my clothes off. I walked into the shower when I was done with that.

"I wonder how you work this thing," I muttered to myself. I turned a dial and a bunch of freezing water dumped on me. "Okay, so we know that one is cold." I turned the other dial, and this time it was hot. I turned both dials until they were at the perfect temperature.

I looked over at a shelf stocked with shampoo, conditioner, soap, body wash, lotion, a razor, shaving cream, and pretty much anything else shower-related you could possibly think of. The only part I didn't get was the lotion, why do we need it?

I poured a bunch of shampoo in my hair, rubbed in around, and rinsed it out. I did the same with the conditioner. Finally I got to the soap. I started to scrub all the dirt of my arms and face and even a little bit of blood from out recent hunt. When I was all done, I grabbed a towel off a hook and walked out.

As I opened the door, steam flew out and filled the bathroom. I opened the bathroom door and walked into our room. I dug some clothes out of our dresser and put them on.

I walked out of our room when I was done. Jasper and Alice were in the same positions that they were in when we left. Yeesh, they were acting like statues. Even with my new vampire-ness, I don't think I could handle standing still for that long. I'm waay too hyper.

Alice looked up at me. "You done?" she asked.

I nodded as Julia came up to us.

Alice appraised my outfit that consisted of a t-shirt and sweatpants. "Thank God we're going on this trip," she said. "You _need_ clothes."

"Thanks a lot," I muttered. She pretended not to hear me.

We started heading downstairs. Bella glanced up at us from her spot on the couch.

"Do you want to come, Bella?" Alice asked as she breezed past.

"No thanks," Bella replied. She looked relieved that Alice hadn't _forced_ her to come... yet.

Alice shrugged as we all walked out to the garage.

When she opened the garage door, my mouth fell open in surprise. They had maybe eight different sports cars. Probably more. I couldn't count.

Julia and I exchanged a wide-eyed glance. She looked astounded.

Alice grinned. "You like them?" She asked us. All I could do was nod and gape. She walked over to a neon yellow Porsche.... or at least that's what I thought it was. I had never been all that great with cars.

Alice ducked into the car. Jasper claimed the passenger seat. I frowned. I hated being stuck in the back. I was sixteen, for God's sake! Still didn't have my license, though... I hadn't been sixteen for long. I'm going to have to obtain one of those...

I got in the car and shut the door. Alice handed Julia and I each a small cardboard box. More contacts.

"Save those for when we get there," she said. "The venom in your eyes will dissolve them, and we wouldn't want that, now would we?" Shoot... that explained some of the stares we were getting on the plane ride.

I stared out the window and took in the surroundings. All I could see at this particular minute was rain and lots of it. I managed to see a random police cruiser drive past... I they don't stop us... Alice wasn't exactly abiding traffic laws right now.

I kept staring out the window until we rolled to a stop. I was relieved, I almost thought my eyes were starting to glaze over.

"Contacts, ladies," Julia and I obliged and shoved the contacts in our eyes. They sure were unpleasant little things... impossible to see through. Not really... it was more like looking through a dirty and scraped up window.

We got out of the car as Alice came around with two umbrellas. She handed one to Julia and I.

"You might not care about the wet, but humans would. They tend to be very picky," she said, grinning. I shrugged and opened the umbrella.

I took a deep breath as we advanced towards the front entrance of the mall. I clenched my hands into fists and tried to resist the urge to breathe. I started to bite my lip... a move I was notorious for now... well, at least to Julia.

We walked through the front doors of the mall. Dozens of pairs of eyes followed us... some guy even crashed his skateboard staring at us (just so he could be caught by the security guard). I had never really been one for attention, but I couldn't help but bask all the attention I was getting. Within the first five minutes of being in there, two random guys had walked up to me and given me their numbers. The same had happened for Julia... but none for Alice. I think it was because every time someone tried, Jasper shot them a menacing glare.

"Where to first?" Jasper asked Alice.

"Let's see if they have anything good at Abercrombie first..." Alice said, her voice trailing off. I rolled my eyes... this was going to be a long day.

And a long day it was! By the time we were even close to being done, poor Jasper was juggling forty-somehing bags. Alice was by far the biggest shopper I had ever met. She even eclipsed Julia... a stunt that confounded me.

I could barely get away to get into the bathroom to take a breath. Alice was dead set against letting me out of her sight... she thought I was going to make a break for it. She was dead on... I absolutely despise shopping.

I breathed a sigh of relief when we were safe and sound back in the car. Julia did too. We both grinned stupidly at each other.

"We did it again!" We practically yelled in unison. Alice looked vaguely interested, Jasper indifferent.

"Yeah, you guys did it. Hooray. But did you have fun?" She hinted slightly.

"I had no fun whatsoever and I will file a lawsuit if you ever do that to me again," I said to her. That was a complete lie... first, I had no lawyer, and second, I actually did have a little fun.

She looked hurt. "Kidding, kidding," I assured her. She perked up a little more.

"What about you, Julia?" She asked.

Julia smiled. "That was the most fun I've had in a very long time," she said. Darn that girly-girl.

Alice smiled. "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself," she said. I'm pretty sure she was actually just glad to have a new shopping partner.

I was pretty quiet again during the car ride back. The rain had let up a bit, but the sky was still darkened by clouds.

I snapped out of my trance when we pulled up at the house. I ran out of the car and made a beeline for the kitchen. I grabbed a glass and filled it with water. I started to drink a little, only to choke it back out after realizing that I can't really drink water anymore.

Alice, Jasper and Julia then came in the door. Julia walked up to me with a puzzled expression.

"You were drinking water because...?" She asked.

My expression was sheepish. "I was thirsty, and I kinda forgot we drank blood..."

She laughed at me. "Well, lets go see if anyone wants to go hunting,"

We walked up the stairs, trying to find someone who would go. We eventually got Jasper and Alice to come. Together, the four of us charged out the back door.

AN: I just realized I forgot to bring Rosalie to the mall. Whoopsie.


End file.
